Mailinglist Archive: opensuse (4570 mails)

[James Knott <james.knott@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Kai Ponte wrote:
> That's an ongoing debate in big libraries, I understand, as Fergus hinted.
> 
> Having a long history with document imaging and storage systems, I ended up 
> one time in a discussion about five years ago with one of the guys who was 
> maintaining the records for the U-2 project, which at the time was still 
> ongoing. He had a great point - all their information is kept in microfilm. 
> If they had tried to use some electronic means in the '50s, '60's, '70's or 
> even '80s, it would have quickly been obsolete and extremely expensive to 
> maintain. Microfilm on the other hand is cheap and longer lasting.

One point about microfilm is that it's an "open" format that everyone
has access to and if worst comes to worst, you can always use a
magnifying glass.  ;-)

What "e-documents" need, is an open file format and storage mechanism.
Currently the storage mechanisms are open, but there are concerns about
equipment obsolescence.  OpenDocument goes a long way to the point of an
open file format, in that because the specs are published.  As long as
you can read the file, you can read the contents.  In the case of some
NASA data, while the tapes could be physically read, no one knew how to
extract the data from the files.

If you want "permanent" records, use a hammer & chisel on stone.  ;-)